What Is Your Cat Saying to You?

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What does it mean when a cat meows? Here is a look at what your cat is saying to you when it moves its ears, widens its eyes, rubs its nose on you, or uses any other body language!

Have you ever wondered what it means when your cat purrs? We know you feel the love when they give you a head but or let you rub their belly, so find out what all these little gestures mean according to catspeak!

Because most of an animal’s speech is body language, posture, and gesture, the key to understanding your cat is learning to read its body language. Vocal speech, in the sense of sounds with a particular meaning, also exists, but it is secondary. Most actions included here exist in combinations rather than singly. Thus, a cat with slitted eyes and ears hard down will probably also be arched or tense, whereas a cat with narrowed eyes and ears slightly down and to the side may also be purring and will be relaxed.

When Cats Move Their Ears

If the ears are hard forward: The cat is alert, interested, ready to move. If you’re holding your cat and the cat suddenly looks at something and pricks her ears forward, she may be getting ready to jump, either to pounce or to run.

If the ears are forward but relaxed: The cat is also relaxed, aware of her surroundings but not alarmed.

If the ears are slightly down and to the side: Usually seen when the cat is very relaxed and happy. Eyes will be closed or slitted; the cat is usually purring.

If the ears are back but not flat: The cat is agitated, threatened, may jump or run away. The cat may also hear something behind it.

If the ears are flat back on the head: The cat is angry, threatened, frightened; may scratch if cornered.

What a Cat’s Tail Tells You

If the tail is high, relaxed, and waving: The cat is relaxed, happy, confident.

If the tail is trailing behind body but not held low: The cat is relaxed but alert.

If the tail is held low: The cat is cautious; it may be looking for a safe place, especially if the body is also held low to the ground.

If the tail is bristled: The cat is fearful or aggressive; other body cues will tell you which.

Cat Body Language

If the body is relaxed, soft, feet tucked under or kneading: The cat is relaxed.

If it rolls on its back: The cat is very relaxed, trusting. A cat does this when it is absolutely confident of safety. It may also be asking you to play or rub its stomach.

If the back is arched, the cat is on its toes, standing sideways-on: The cat is fearful and may fight, but will probably run.

If the back is arched, and the cat is standing face-on: The cat is aggressive and will almost certainly fight.

Cats Communicate with Their Eyes

If the eyes are wide: The cat is alert. Other cues will tell you if the cat is relaxed or threatened.

If the eyes are narrowed: The cat is alert, but may be fearful or aggressive. Look for other cues.

If the eyes are slitted or closed: The cat is relaxed.

Pupil dilation is also important: Wide pupils can signal high interest, excitement, or possibly fear or aggression.

Cat Cues from Whiskers

If the whiskers are hard forward: The cat is alert, interested, perhaps sees a threat, prey, or food.

If the whiskers are back: The cat is calm, relaxed.

If the whiskers are bristled: Usually seen with other cues that indicate fear or aggression.

Cat Voices: What Does a Meow or Purr Mean?

What does the cat say? “Meow”—but only when speaking to their humans! As a rule, cats don’t meow at each other, although they have a range of vocal signals. Kittens mew loudly when they’re hungry or frightened, but once they’ve stopped being dependent on their mother, they also stop this kind of calling behavior. Adult cats do have several vocal signals. When you hear your cat meowing, it is talking to you.

Hiss: This is fear and threat. The cat is saying, “Back off.” Depending on how confident the cat feels or whether it is in its own territory, it may fight or run. You can use the hiss to tell your cat to stop doing something—this will get its attention and usually stop the behavior.

Yowl: This is a step up from the hiss and is definitely a threat. The sound is “wow-wow-wow,” but modulated: “woOOOowwwoooOOOoowwwooOOOoow,” with the middle of each “wow” rising both in pitch and volume. A cat making this sound is getting ready to fight and may scratch if you try to touch it. Use the yowl to move a strange cat off your property. Yowling can also indicate discomfort or emotional upset. A smothered or muffled yowl may indicate a hairball coming up.

Purr: The jury is still out on precisely how the purr is produced. It may be a vocalization, or it may be produced by some other means. However it’s produced, this is a multipurpose sound. The purr usually indicates relaxation, trust, and well-being, and a cat may purr itself (and you!) to sleep. A nursing mother will purr while the kittens nurse, and they purr along with her. This seems to be a bonding and reassuring sound related to the later adult “relaxed” purr. Adult cats often purr while grooming each other.

Occasionally, a cat will insert a trilling sound into the purr. You usually hear this when you’re holding and petting the cat, not when the cat is simply purring to itself or another cat. This is referred to as “singing.”

Cats also purr over prey. There is a theory that the purr acts as a hypnotic on the prey animal and reduces its struggling.

Finally, an injured cat will sometimes purr, but the purr is deeper and raspier and quite loud. While the relaxed purr, the nursing purr, and the trill are accompanied by kneading, the prey purr and the pain purr usually are not.

Chirp: This is an abbreviated sound, “prrt” or “prrt?,” almost like a purr cut short. It usually happens as a greeting between cats that know each other well. Cats will also sometimes use the chirp to respond to a human voice. Some cats do a chattering sound, very soft and sometimes accompanied by a silent or almost-silent meow. They usually do this when they’re frustrated by seeing prey that they can’t get at, like that squirrel dancing in front of the window.

Cat Gestures

Finally, cats make a number of very communicative gestures.

Kneading: This is a holdover from kitten behavior. A nursing kitten kneads its mother’s belly to promote the flow of milk. An adult cat may knead a person who is holding it to indicate contentment. If the cat’s claws are sharp, this can be a painful experience! A contented cat will sometimes extend and curl its toes (and extrude and withdraw its claws) while it’s purring, even if there’s nothing to knead.

Nose-rubbing: A cat that rubs its nose and cheek on you is marking you and indicating that you belong to it.

Arching: A cat that arches against you, sometimes even standing up on its hind feet, is asking for attention and wants to be petted or even picked up. A cat that flops against you is indicating trust.

Head butting: If your cat butts the top of its head against you, this is affection, pure and simple.

Grooming: Occasionally, cats will groom their people and may even bite gently. This is a variation on parent behavior, where an adult cat grooms a kitten and sometimes takes it gently by the nape to make it hold still. Cats will sometimes carry this affectionate behavior to the extent of rasping the skin away, so interrupt it before it gets to that point!

This is not completely exhaustive, but by paying attention to the rudimentary vocal and gestural vocabulary of your cat, you’ll more easily be able to figure out what it is telling you—and you’ll be less likely to be scratched!

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Communicating With Cats

Another thing cats do is communicate by sight. If you want your cat to sit next to you, first get their attention. Look at them and then look at the space you want them to sit. Keep doing it slowly and they will respond. I does work!

We have a boy cat who likes

We have a boy cat who likes to be the bully so we keep him separated with a gate. He sees the other cats and whines so sadly. He is also extremely vocal, with chirps, prrps,everything but meows! Our youngest cat almost never meows, but she squeaks when she's happy. The other girl rarely makes any noise. What a bunch! Not normal, but so much fun!

Had a guard-cat that feinged

Had a guard-cat that feinged sleep; just to catch any nosey dog then would roar to attack mode. Funny every time! Followed us to the corner store. Trotted, guard style to make sure dogs didn't get on property. A patches cat.

Tail "flop"
Another gesture

Another gesture I've observed in cats is when they'll be either sitting or lying down, occasionally the tail will rise up and simply flop back down, to either the original position or to a different position. If the cat is simply looking around at nothing in particular, I take this to be another sign of contentment. However if the cat is looking intently at me at the same time as the tail flop, I'm almost sure that it is "plotting," perhaps in a playful mood and perhaps planning a bit of mischief.

There is one piece of

There is one piece of behavior that is not expressed here. Our cat, in all his oddness, gets what we call happy-tail and happy-body. This is when his hair stands straight up. He does this on 2 occasions. 1.) When he is extremely happy, usually combined with purring and kneading. 2.) When he's extremely upset, tail between the legs and hissing. Just have to watch for the cues.

I'm not sure if all cats are this way, but ours certainly is.

There's a funny little shake

There's a funny little shake of the tail, much like a rattlesnake, that a few of my cats do when they're teasing me or another cat - I call them 'rattlecats'. One cat does this to me - I'm sitting on the couch and she lays up on the back and positions herself just so the tip of her tail (the 'rattle') hits me in the face. Very nonchalant. I have 42 cats - they are all awesome (I live on a farm and they're well cared for and very happy and love me and know they're well-loved).

I work at a Marina in Howe

I work at a Marina in Howe Sound, BC, Canada. There has been a cat here for as long as I have been here (almost 5 years). the previous night Watch use to feed her, When I took over his position. He told me "just put her food down and walk away She isn't very friendly, and she wont eat if you are near by" The first night I saw her I "meowed" at her. She perked up, and meowed back, and raised her body on her toes, rolled on her back, and was purring contently. She was beyond happy to meet someone "who could speak her language" ""Sunset"" loves me, I pet her, and scratch her belly, She doesn't like being picked up, but she some days likes being petted, more then food. I spoil her rotten (tinned fish, sardines, salmon, tuna etc.) Fresh prawn meat, fresh fish. Dave use to buy the cheapest cat food on the market, and I refuse to give any animal that garbage.